Tapuskovic on the rights of Milosevic

HAGUE TRIBUNAL: IMPOSITION OF COUNSEL ON SLOBODAN MILOSEVIC?

Interview of Belgrade lawyer Branislav Tapuskovic (former Amicus
Curiae at the Hague process) to the German daily "junge Welt", 30
August 2004

By Anna Gutenberg

Q: The ICTY Registrar recently asked you whether you would agree to be
on the list of potential lawyers to be imposed on Mr. Milosevic. Were
you surprised that the judges reintroduced that issue after Mr.
Milosevic successfully defended himself during the Prosecution case?
Or did you have some other thoughts on the matter?

A: Yes, I was surprised, because, if Slobodan Milosevic is ill, even
if he had had a counsel all the time, the trial could not have gone on
as long as the illness lasted. The proposal of the Prosecution to use
a video-link is senseless: a video link cannot make an ill person
process-capable.

Q: Why did you refuse?

A: I have respected the provision of Article 21, point 4/d of the
Statute of the ICTY, according to which every defendant has the
guaranteed right TO BE TRIED IN HIS PRESENCE AND TO DEFEND HIMSELF IN
PERSON.

Q: I remember the occasions when the judges treated you harshly
whenever you put forward the important facts during the testimony of
prosecution witnesses. They once accused you of defending Mr.
Milosevic. Can you comment on that?

A: I did not see it that way. My duty in particular was to insist on
releasing evidence that came out of the exhibits I was receiving from
the Prosecution. It was really not my problem to worry about how the
Judges treated me.

Q: What do you think about the argument that an accused can be too ill
to present his case, but fit enough to stand trial? Is that common?

A: About the accused's health condition, only physicians can decide on
that. And, in my opinion, that has to be obligatory for the court. If
the physicians conclude that Slobodan Milosevic is ill, unfit to
defend himself, and cannot be present in the court, then there can be
no trial at all. Simply, in that case the Prosecution does not have a
case.

Q: Critical voices say that imposing counsel on Mr. Milosevic is an
attempt to prevent him from presenting his facts and witnesses.
Comment, please.

A: The trial cannot be valid if Slobodan Milosevic does not present his
evidence.

Q: What do you think about the fact that former US Secretary of State
M. Albright was visiting the ICTY on the very day in early July when
the judges accepted the possibility of imposing counsel?

A: One can only guess, but my position has always been that politics
must not influence the work of any court.

Q: Thank you very much.

Den Artikel finden Sie unter:
http://www.jungewelt.de/2004/08-30/018.php

(c) Junge Welt 2004
http://www.jungewelt.de